(Not applicable)
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to hitches for the towing of trailers, and more particularly to an improved hitch with a hitch ball that may be raised and lowered on a vertical axis to tilt a towed trailer.
(2) Background Information
Trailers used for the transport of equipment such as lawnmowers and the like typically require the user to attach a ramp to the rearward end of the trailer in order to load and unload the equipment. While this is not necessarily a huge endeavor there are several drawbacks to such a procedure.
First, the ramp is typically a pair of runways that will receive the opposing sets of wheels of a tractor or similar vehicle. Arranging the runways to align with the wheels of the vehicle requires perfect alignment, so that the tractor will not fall off the runways during the loading or unloading operation.
Other types of trailers have the ramp pivotally connected to the rearward edge of the trailer, and then the ramp is pivoted to an upright position while the trailer is towed. While this overcomes many of the problems associated with the separate and independent runways, it still requires the user to slowly lower a relatively heavy and ungainly ramp from a vertical position to a lowered position, and vice versa. The ramp can be of such weight that this becomes a two-person job, and also requires the user to bend over to raise or lower the ramp, which can lead to back problems.
Yet other trailers are provided with a tiltable bed, pivotally attached to a wheeled frame. Such a trailer permits the user to tilt the trailer bed until the rearward edge is close to the ground, to thereby permit loading and unloading. While this solution eliminates the use of ramps, the weight of the trailer bed and the equipment on the bed, can cause the trailer to tilt quickly and hit the ground, if not carefully controlled. Such control typically requires great strength of the user, unless the load is distributed very carefully on the trailer bed. In addition, the trailer requires a specially built frame, which requires more maintenance, as well as adding significant cost to the manufacture of the trailer.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide an improved hitch for towed trailers, which is vertically operable to raise and lower the hitch ball.
Another is to provide an improved hitch that allows the user to selectively tilt a towed trailer, and lock the trailer in the tilted position.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a vertically operable hitch that may be used on conventional trailers of many types, without modification to the trailer.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
The vertically operable hitch of the present invention includes a horizontal support member with the forward end journaled in the receiver of a tow vehicle. An upright post on the support member has a carrier assembly operably mounted thereon for selective vertical movement along the post. A hitch ball is mounted on the carrier assembly for selective connection to the tongue of a towed trailer to thereby selectively raise and lower the hitch ball.